Bickering Republicans clamor over party's heart

PROPOSITION 8: The Battle Over Same-sex Marriage They claim because of his anti-Prop. 8 stance that he doesn't represent GOP base

Published 4:00 am, Sunday, December 7, 2008

Photo: Nick Ut, AP

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California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signs declarations at a news conference in his Los Angeles office. Schwarzenegger declared a fiscal emergency and called lawmakers into a special session to address California's $11.2 billion budget deficit. less

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signs declarations at a news conference in his Los Angeles office. Schwarzenegger declared a fiscal emergency and called lawmakers into a special session to address ... more

Christian conservatives are using him as a foil, to claim that they, not the Republican governor, represent the party base.

That Schwarzenegger is "condoning street protests and supporting judicial activist scams to overturn a popularly approved state constitutional amendment approaches advocacy of anarchy," said an action alert from the Family Research Council, which urges conservatives to contact Schwarzenegger's office.

With Republicans out of power in both houses of Congress and the White House, party faithful are focusing on the future of the GOP. It's a position that's pitting some Republican moderates - including Schwarzenegger - against social conservatives.

Some GOP leaders believe the social conservatives are holding the party back. Christie Whitman, the former head of the Environmental Protection Agency under President Bush, co-wrote a Washington Post opinion piece that said the party has been held hostage to social conservatives. She described Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's selection as Arizona Sen. John McCain's vice presidential candidate as a "cynical sop to social fundamentalists, reinforcing the impression that they control the party, with the party's consent."

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Rep. Peter King of New York - all moderate Republicans - each won re-election in a tough year. Each has said the party needed to broaden its base. All three are under attack for saying so.

"What doesn't work is drawing a harsh ideological line in the sand," said Collins.

These comments from Republican moderates have drawn rebukes from social conservatives such as Family Research Council President Tony Perkins.

"Republicans are in this wilderness not because they spent the last six years embracing limited government and moral values, but because the two parties were almost indistinguishable," said Perkins. "The future of the GOP depends on strong leaders who will embrace a positive message of faith and family."

Some interpret the attacks on Schwarzenegger as an inevitable shift among conservatives toward local and state governments, given the staggering Republican losses in the White House and both houses of Congress.

"The religious right groups have a couple of options. One would be to stand around for four years and rail against the Obama administration - which they're going to do," said Rob Boston, senior policy analyst for Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, who has written extensively about the religious right for 21 years. "But a more fruitful strategy would be decentralize a little bit and put more emphasis on state and local governments. I do think that will happen."

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The victories on same-sex marriage in California, Florida and Arizona and a ban on adoptions by gay couples were among the few electoral highlights for conservatives. So Boston thinks they'll continue to use homosexuality as an issue to build support.

The election "is obviously a wound for them and they don't like the results," said Boston. "But obviously it doesn't mean they're finished."

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